Experimental Analysis of 3.6 kW Rooftop Grid Connected Thin Film Photovoltaic System in Cairo
Abstract
As a solution for the depletion of conventional fossil fuel energy sources and serious Environmental problems, focus on the photovoltaic (PV) system is increasing around the world. In the future, the establishment of utilization technology for stability and reliability of PV systems will take on more significance in this area as high-density grid-connected PV systems will be interconnected with distribution networks. Therefore, total three units of 1.2 kW grid-connected PV systems have been installed on the roof of renewable energy lab in Egypt since Jan. 2010. The Monitoring system has been constructed for measuring and analyzing the performance of PV systems to observe the overall effect of meteorological conditions on their operation characteristics by field test. During one year of monitoring period, the performance of PV systems has been evaluated and analyzed not only for component perspective (PV array, grid tied inverter) but also for global perspective (system efficiency, capacity factor, electrical energy). The loss factors of PV systems and components such as a grid tied inverter and PV have been also reviewed.